Is the President of Unia & Polska, a pro-European organisation. He worked with the Financial Times as its Warsaw Correspondent from 1976 to 2000 and later published Unia & Polska, a magazine devoted to EU issues. He writes for openDemocracy and is associate editor on the Europe section of Europe’s World. He is a co-chair of Steering Committee of Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum. He studied modern history at Magdalen College, Oxford. He is a Commander (II class) of the Stella della Solidarieta’ Italiana.
Experts
Krzysztof Bobiński
Vít Bojňanský
Vít Bojňanský is an academic sculptor. He showed first interest in plastic art and painting already in childhood, attending the Primary art school in Bratislava. After graduating the Arts and Crafts school in Bratislava in 1981, he continued his education at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, which he graduated under supervision of masters Ladislav Snopek and Jan Kulich in 1987.
He took part in numerous sculptural symposiums either at home or abroad, while in 1995 he won the 3rd award at the International Sculptural Symposium in Cagliari, Sardinia. At the turn of the century, he took party in several study programmes in Paris (CIDA), where his paintings were exhibited, too. His work was exhibited at dozens of individual or collective exhibitions, and presented at private collections all around the world, including prestigious exhibition halls in the Netherlands, France, Austria, Germany, Spain, the USA, Italy, Korea, the United Arab Emirates, China and the Czech Republic.
Endre Bojtár
Editor-in-chief of a liberally-oriented Hungarian weekly Magyar Narancs.
László Borbély
Was born in 1984. He received his diploma and later his doctoral degree at the Liszt Academy of Budapest, where now he is teaching 20th Century and contemporary Music for Piano at the Piano Faculty. He participated in several international festivals such Collegium Musicum Pommersfelden, Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander (Spain), International Holland Music Sessions (The Netherlands), TCU/Cliburn Institute (USA, Fort Worth), Grottammare Liszt Festival (Italy), Raiding Liszt Festival (Austria), and won numerous prizes at national and international competitions. In 2002, he won the Yamaha Scholarship Award and also the 2nd prize and the special prize of the American Liszt Society at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition. In 2005 he won the „Educational Award” at the London International Piano Competition and he was the 2nd prize-winner at the International Liszt-Bartók Piano Competition in Budapest where he also got the special prize of Budapest City in 2006. He got the Annie Fischer Performers’ Scholarship three times (in 2008, 2009 and 2010) and the prestigious „Junior Prima Prize” in 2009. He has had recitals in Europe, in the USA and in Japan. Since 2012 he has been the member of the „Qaartsiluni Ensemble”.
Vít Borčany
Project Coordinator in the Association for International Affairs where he started working in 2013. Previously, he worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of International Relations (2013) and at the Foreign Affairs Department of the Office of the President of the Republic (2012). He currently finishes his International Relations studies and continues in Political Science at the Masaryk University. Vít is mainly focused on Central European politics.
Monika Borycka
Trend analyst and futures studies specialist, founder and CEO of TrendRadar, where she shares knowledge about trendwatching and future thinking. She is a lecturer and academic supervisor of the postgraduate studies in Trendwatching & Futures Studies at AGH in Cracow and co-author of the podcast "Wycinki z przyszłości". She collaborates with companies and organizations to analyze trends and innovations, helping them understand the future and prepare effectively for changes. Her experience spans various projects, both individually and in partnership, including developing and conducting workshops and training sessions, delivering inspirational speeches, creating trend reports, and consulting on innovation projects. Previously associated with the media, she has 13 years of experience in the digital divisions of major national television stations (TVN, TVN24, TVP), where her responsibilities included trendwatching and implementing innovations.
Agnieszka Bott – Alama
Senior specialist at the Department of Tourism in Polish Ministry of Economy, Labour and Social Policy. PhD in Tourism Economic (2002), trainer. Areas of interest include economy of tourism, rural tourism and market research.
Jeannette Bougrab
Jeannette Bougrab is a French lawyer and politician. She served as the junior minister for Youth and Community Life from 2010 2012 and is a member of the UMP party. Prior to this, she was the Chair of the French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission (HALDE) from 16 April 2010 to 14 November 2010. Jeannette Bougrab received a Masters (DEA) in Law from the University of Orléans and completed a PhD in Public Law from the Sorbonne in Paris as well as a Masters (Magistère) in Economics Law. She has been an associate Professor of Law at Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris and the Sorbonne. She served on the Board of Directors of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) until 2007. She has been a member of the Haut Conseil à l'Intégration, the Administrative Board of the Arab World Institute (AWI) and the diversity oversight of the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA). In 2010, she also became Chair of the Administrative Board of the Agence pour la Cohésion Sociale et l'Egalité (ACSE). She has been a member of National Council of France. She is also a writer and film director.
Toy Box
Young Czech street-artist and comics author. Her comics often deal with people who lack their voice in mainstream media - prostitutes, junkies, squatters, illegal immigrants. She studied interactive media and stage design and exhibited in various spaces, for example at Prague´s Biennale of Young Artists in 2010. She also creates and organizes her own theater performances. In 2010 she painted a large-scale graffiti comics on the wall of the Cross Club in Prague. She is a part of the Czech anarchist scene and lives in Prague.
Maja Branka
Social skills and diversity trainer, specializing on public speaking and presentation skills. During last six years she conducted over 2000 training hours on creating and delivering presentation for public, private and NGO sectors. She also delivers training on leadership skills, diversity management and anti-discrimination workshops. Until September 2006 she was In „Partners” Foundation where she was leading programme: Gender quality”. She is also an author of training programme „Zarządzanie Firmą Równych Szans”. She graduated from Warsaw University – Journalism and Political Science Faculty.
At presence she is running her own training and consultancy business. She lives in Warsaw, Poland.
